


Old Friends

by RoseD_ovE



Category: Good Omens
Genre: Demon, In which the end of the world gets discussed AGAIN, One Shot, angel - Freeform, aziraphale - Freeform, crowley - Freeform, good omens - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 05:02:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20252596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseD_ovE/pseuds/RoseD_ovE
Summary: It's quiet in the bookshop. Too quiet, which means Aziraphale, like everyone said, thinks too much.





	Old Friends

It was storming outside the small shop as Aziraphale stood by the shelves, sorting and resorting his old book collections, like he hadn't seen them before and was discovering them for the first time ever. He cradled some books in one arm while he shoved the books on the shelf aside to make room for them. There wasn't much noise going on except for the occasional thunder rumble, the light pitter-pattering of the rain outside the windows, and the snoring of a certain demon on the couch in the backroom.

Crowley had made himself rather comfortable in Aziraphale's bookshop when he discovered it was going to rain. He was bored. And when Crowley is bored he tends to sit and stare or yell at his plants for....something. Aziraphale wasn't entirely sure WHY he yelled at them. It seemed pointless, but maybe it was because he was an angel filled with love, and, he figured, he should give that love to things created on earth, such as plants. Crowley didn't seem to agree with this, and Aziraphale and Crowley had gotten into many a discussion about maybe, just maybe, treating the plants more kindly. As soon as Aziraphale had mentioned that, Crowley had peered over his dark sunglasses with his piercing yellow snake eyes and scoffed. They never spoke about it again.

But Crowley was asleep at this time, so there was no need for him to be going home and screaming at his plants at exactly 10 pm at night, which was the time right now. There was noone in the shop (not that Aziraphale was going to let anyone in. You see, he was a very finicky businessman after all.) and Aziraphale had too much work to be doing. Such as sorting and resorting. Very busy.

Aziraphale grabbed another pile of books and went to climb on the stepladder to the highest bookshelf. Customers would DEFINITELY not reach up here, so here is where he kept his absolute favorites. No touching, no curious pondering, not even so much as a glance so as Aziraphale was there. But he grabbed too many books, and three of the books on the top slipped out of his cradle and went tumbling to the floor. Aziraphale grimaced, imagining the sort of damage they'd have once he picked them back up. He stared pitifully at the floor.

"Ngk..."moaned Crowley in the next room, obviously awakened by all the racket. "Angel?"

Aziraphale smiled nervously even though Crowley wasn't there to see it. He was trying to act as casual as possible, but he is not very good at it. Crowley knows this.

"So sorry just got a head of myself. Quite fine here!"

Crowley shuffled out of the room and glanced down at the fallen books before looking back up at Aziraphale with one eyebrow cocked suspiciously. "Doesn't look fine to me. It looks like a mess."

Aziraphale stepped down from the ladder and gathered the books up at Crowley's feet while he still stared down at the angel. Aziraphale seemed so...stressed. Crowley could tell by Aziraphale's franticness and his attempt to seem completely normal. In all 6,000 years, he had picked up Aziraphale's cues. So the weak attempts to seem normal were....well, weak.

"Just have to...organize these, see. Must have them in tip-top condition. Mint condition. They're special books."

Crowley frowned. "What's on your mind?"

Aziraphale paused mid-way through putting a book on the shelf. Crowley watched him as the angel turned and look down at him. Aziraphale knew he had been caught.

"Wh-whatever do you mean, Crowley?"

"You're nervous. You're acting frantic. I know the signs. What is it?" Crowley shoved his sunglasses back on his face. He was done napping now.

Aziraphale stepped down from the ladder and set the books down before going to sit on a nearby chair. He seemed to be stuttering on his words a bit, like he wasn't sure how to talk about his thoughts. That was the difference between Crowley and Aziraphale. Aziraphale seemed to shut down some of his emotions, and while Crowley could also be private, he was a little bit more opinionated about things. Well, not just a little. A LOT.

"Are we....happy?" Aziraphale finally said, talking slowly, as if he might say the wrong thing. Crowley was taken aback at first, looking down at his friend with an expression of mild shock.

"How do you mean?"

"Well," Aziraphale adjusted himself to the end of the seat. He raised his hands as if to emphasize a point. "Everything we thought we were preparing for has ended. Now it's humanity. What do we do?

Crowley shoved his hands in his pocket and poked his bottom lip out. "I wouldn't complain TOO much, angel? We no longer have to deal with either of our sides pestering us about...whatever it was."

Aziraphale opened his mouth as if to speak. He had never officially told Crowley what had happened when they swapped bodies and separated ways. Maybe now was the time to. "I sort of.....told...your kind to leave us alone." He waited for Crowley's expression. He couldn't know what was going on behind the sunglasses, but he had a feeling. Just like Crowley could read Aziraphale, Aziraphale could also read Crowley, with or without the sunglasses. 

All of a sudden, Crowley grinned. A genuinely happy grin. "Really now?" He exclaimed. "And it really worked?"

Aziraphale shrugged. "As far as I can tell."

Crowley lightly punched Aziraphale in the shoulder, still holding onto his enthusiastic grin. "You really showed them."

Aziraphale grinned back at him. He stood up now, going back to the bookshelf. After a moment's pause, he turned to look at Crowley. "Say, why don't we go get something to drink? To celebrate newfound joy."

Crowley smiled. "I'm right behind you."

And that sentence alone, told Aziraphale more than any other sentence had.


End file.
